1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a plastic sheet product exhibiting a matte appearance which comprises a core layer and at least one layer of a capstock composition which overlies and is bonded to at least one face of the core layer, where the capstock composition contains particulate inclusions that yield the desired appearance and that emulates frosted glass.
2. Description of Related Art
It is well known that plastic sheets with a matte finish can be manufactured using textured or embossing calendar rolls. However, such technology has several disadvantages such as frequent replacement of the rolls, limited predictability and consequent uniformity of the textural designs of the sheets produced, loss of the texture if the sheet is thermoformed, and the like.
It is also known to prepare a translucent screen comprising a dispersion of a transparent material in a matrix material in which the refractive index of the transparent material differs slightly from that of the matrix material—see U.S. Pat. No. 2,287,556 and published European Patent Application 0 464 499 A2. It is additionally known to coextrude a matrix layer and one or two layers of a capstock composition containing miscible particles of an impact modifier—see U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,737.
Among the shortcomings of the prior art, the sheet materials presently available offer inconsistencies in appearance and difficulty in preparation, as there are often unacceptable variations in the thickness of the matte layer. Also, in the instance where the finish is achieved by surface texturization, the products are more difficult to maintain and clean.
None of the known technology effectively addresses the shortcomings of the prior art with respect to the preparation and resultant quality of the matte appearance plastic sheeting, and it is toward the preparation of products that do not suffer from these shortcomings that the present invention is directed.